How Many Calories Should I Eat To Lose Weight?

Finally, the greatest question in the universe regarding dieting has come:

“How many calories should i eat to lose weight?“

It’s a fact that most people learning how to count calories, are going in the right direction with their fat loss efforts. Instead of relying on nonsense diets, they start counting their caloric intake. Example of nonsense diets:

How Accurate Are These Caloric Formulas ?

Not everybody likes math, and not everybody likes to use complicated formulas to find out what they need to do.

The approach I usually use for me and my clients is always a flexible one just like I always treated dieting and training.

I will detail my personal caloric counting strategy which is faster, easier, and gave me great results.

Simple Calorie Estimation Formula

The easiest way to get your approximate maintenance calories is take your weight (lb) and multiply it by 14-16 times.

No Bs Formula: 14-16 calories/lb.

Why 14-16 calories/lb ?

RMR estimates start from 10 for women and 11 for men (10-11 calories/lb)

TEF – accounts for approximately 10% of total caloric intake => +1 calories/lb for women and men

EAT – accounts for approximately 30% of the RMR cal/lb which => +3-4 calories/lb

Total: 14-16 calories/lb

NOTE: If you are not physically active, I would use the 14 calories/ lb as a starting point.

Applying What You’ve Learned

This is a little exercise to see each formula in action. so we will estimate caloric requirements for a 25 year old male at 200 lb (90kg), 6 feet height (185 cm) with sedentary lifestyle, sitting around 20% body fat.

Mifflin St. Jeor Formula

899+1156+123+5=2183 x 1.2 = 2619

Harris Benedict Formula

66+1233+900-169= 2030 x 1.2 = 2436

Katch McArdle Formula

370 + 1555 = 1925 x 1.2 = 2310

Simple Calorie Estimation Formula

200 lb x 14 calories/lb = 2800

The estimation range is 2310 – 2800 calories/day for maintenance. This means the calories he needs to eat in order to maintain are somewhere between those numbers.

I always like to take the middle approach which is both safe and viable in the long term.

What I experienced working, is cutting 20% of these estimated calories. Subtract 20% and try that number. In our case:

2800 calories/day x 0.20 = 560

2800 calories/day – 560 = 2240

In this case, the answer to your question “how many calories should I eat to lose weight?”, would be:

I am very thankful to have found your blog. I have used this above equation during my Christmas break and have lost a little over five pounds. I was wondering what adjustment you would give for a very active ballet dancer? I train 35 + hours per week and will be starting back soon. Thank you so much for your wisdom!

Thank you for your response! I have been eating 1400 calories per day since I have not been very active over the Holiday’s (about two weeks). I am sitting at 122 lbs right now and lost a little over 5 lbs. I’m 5’6. For the past few years I have been focusing more on portion control and have lost almost 30lbs! I am very active with dance and avg 30 hours of training before rehearsals. I want to start your strength training program as well. I would like to get down to 115 lbs.

About Florin…

I'm 25 years old, personal trainer, fitness enthusiast, blogger and author of The No Bs Flexible Formula To Six Pack Abs, and The Extreme Fat Loss Diet Why I write here? I had enough with all the general nonsense I see promoted in the supplements industry, by fat loss and training "gurus". Everything I share here is backed up by research and application. You will never find bullsh*t here.